This talk explores the histories, journeys, and legacies of 'coolie' migrants as central to the making of Indian diplomacy. I argue that the Indian state framed the 'international' realm as a sanctified space to negotiate what it deemed the 'coolie stain' on its reputation, a discourse shaped by the intersections of caste and class. While examining indenture and the regulation of mobility as intrinsic to postcolonial Indian diplomacy, I also seek to foreground how these migrants themselves actively conceptualised their international status.

Biography: “I am a social and cultural historian of the modern Middle East. My work focuses on gender, sexuality, working classes, and popular culture. I have authored many academic publications, most notably Industrial Sexuality: Gender, Urbanization, and Social Transformation in Egypt from the UT Press 2016 and Unknown Past: Layla Murad, the Jewish-Muslim Star of Egypt from Stanford University Press.

Short biography: Pascal Menoret is the director of the Center for Economic, Legal, and Social Studies and Documentation in Cairo (CEDEJ) and the Renée and Lester Crown Professor of Modern Middle East Studies at Brandeis University, where he teaches in the Department of Anthropology. His research interests include infrastructure, urban planning, ecology, and energy. He has conducted field research in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt.

Cuba Sì, Yankees No

Zanzibar and Political Liberation between “the Global 60s”and Local Politics

The World is not a Place of Dwelling: Spiritual Creativity in the Arts of Contemporary Islam

Biography

Teresa Pepe is Associate Professor in Arabic Studies and Chair of the Center of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies (CIMS) at the University of Oslo. Her research interests span across Arabic literature, media, popular culture, sociolinguistics, and the relation between aesthetics and politics.

Sri Lanka’s Constitution authorises the government to limit fundamental freedoms on the grounds of various public interests. In this seminar, we will examine how this limitation regime in Sri Lanka has become vulnerable to majoritarian influence. We will discuss a number of case studies that offer insights into Sri Lanka’s constitutional practice with respect to limitations on fundamental freedoms, such as the freedom of religion or belief and the freedom of expression.

What had been a relatively small gap in 1947 between Pakistan and India is turning into an ever widening chasm. Given the common origins of these two countries what essential differences led to the present situation? Or were the trajectories predetermined? After discussing historical similarities and differences, I will explore whether Pakistan can now choose a different future for itself.